A pile of bodies awaits cremation after the firebombing of Dresden, February 1945.


A pile of bodies awaits cremation after the firebombing of Dresden, February 1945.

The bombing of Dresden in February 1945 has remained one of the most controversial aspects of World War Two. Dresden, a city unaffected by bombing up to that point in the war, lost many thousands of civilians in the firestorm that was created by the Allies.
In four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945, 722 heavy bombers of the British Royal Air Force and 527 of the United States Army Air Forces dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city. The incendiary bombs created so much fire that a firestorm developed.
The resulting firestorm destroyed 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of the city center. The more the city burned, the more oxygen was sucked in – and the greater the firestorm became. It is thought that the temperature peaked at 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (990 degrees Celsius). The surface of roads melted and fleeing people found that their feet were burned as they ran.
In all, between 22,000 and 40,000 people were killed by the Allied bombing in Dresden. Historians still argue over the number of deaths. However, there were so many refugees in the city at the time that the real figure will almost certainly never be known.



The Allies dropped more than 3,900 tons of bombs.

The city was not a military target. It was known as a cultural center full of beautiful architecture with some buildings dating back a thousand years. Also, Dresden was undefended: no searchlights, no bursting flak. Dresden was a civilian target.
The thing that is so shocking about Dresden is that they didn’t bomb it to destroy military infrastructure and help the war, it was purely to terrorize the German people.
There was a lot of industry and mobility infrastructure in Dresden, and there could have been an actual gain for the Allies if they had targeted it, but they didn’t. They just bombed the densest populated parts of the city.


The bombing methods used by the Allied were to encourage total destruction of buildings: the high explosive bombs first expose the wood frames of buildings, then the incendiary bombs ignite the wood, and finally followed by various explosives to hamper the firefighting efforts.
After the raid had finished, SS guards brought in from a nearby camp, burnt the bodies in the city’s Old Square (the Altmarkt). There were so many bodies that this task took two weeks to get completed.

Comments

  1. youdoMarch 22, 2024 at 4:30 AM

    Absolute nonsense!
    Dresden was an important military railway hub for the supply of resources to the Wehrmacht on the eastern front & this bombing was carried out at the request of the Russians.
    The city was comprehensively bombed, destroying the rail installations, supply depots & much of the old city housing the German workforce.
    Every man, woman & child in Germany was working to fight, supply or support the war effort & all Germans were committed to the Goebbels doctrine of Total War. They were not innocent civilians.
    Despite heavy military losses, Germany would not surrender & the extensive carpet bombing carried out by Bomber Command & the US Airforce had great strategic effect. The Germans left alive after these bombings, whilst homeless, sleepless & lacking food & water were obviously much less able to contribute to the Axis war machine.
    These Dresden raids, along with all the other allied bombing missions of the war, did much to cripple Germany & shorten the conflict, saving countless allied lives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SheaMarch 28, 2024 at 9:07 AM

    As the original article states, Dresden was NOT a military target. One may claim that No One Is Innocent, as though any act short of total resistance is supporting the enemy. This is the rationale behind the destruction of Gaza, for example. The wholesale slaughter of civilians, as a means of eradicating a military or political foe, is a War Crime.

    ReplyDelete

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